W Class Trams & Art

The roll-call of those who painted the trams, which first ran on Melbourne lines from 1978 to 1982 as part of the Transporting Art project initiated by Victoria's Hamer Government, reads like a who's who of Australian contemporary art.

However many of the first series were sold off, some used as scrap, others for spare parts.

Some are held privately, treasured by their owners who struggle to protect them from the elements.

Others were simply painted over (one in fast food restaurant chain Hungry Jacks' colours of red and yellow), some gifted overseas (to the US cities of Seattle and Memphis) and returned to their original green livery.